Lock for airplane doors or the like



May 16, 1944. s. OXHANDLER 3 9 LOOK FOR AIRPLANE DOORS OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. '7, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1944- s. OXHANDLER 2,349,192

LOCK FOR AIRPLANE DOORS OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. '7, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1944' s. (WU-HANDLER 2,349,192

LOCK FOR AIRPLANE DOORS OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. '7, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I I j I M v WM May 1944 s. QXHANDLER 2 LOOK FOR AIRPLANE DOORS OR THE LIKE Fild Dec. '7, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 16, 1944 LOCKFOR AIRPLANE DOORS OR. THE LIKE Samuel Oxhandler, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to Sargent & Company, New Haven, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application December 7, 1942, Serial No. 468,051

16 Claims.

This invention relates to looks or closure fas teners for doors, and more particularly to devices of this kind especially adapted for use in connection with airplane doors.

It is desirable in connection with doors for aircraft to avoid the use of any parts which project outwardly beyond the surrounding portions of the craft body, and thus it is undesirable to employ in connection with airplane doors any handles or lock-operating mechanisms which stand in a projecting position on the outside face of the door. At the same time it is necessary for the door bolts to be operated. from the outside as well as from the inside, and it is difficult to arrange handles or other operating members which may be readily manipulated and which do not stand in a projecting position.

In the present invention it is contemplated to provide at the outside of the door, operating members for the door bolts which will be retractable into a recess in the door, so that dur-:

ing the flight of the plane these handles will be flush with the door itself and present no projecting parts, while at the same time the outside operating members or handles may, when desired, be projected outwardly beyond the surface of the door, where they may be readily manipulated.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a novel door-fastening mechanism for doors of airplanes or the like.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a door-fastening mechanism having a handle or operating member at the outside of the door which is retractable into and protractable from a recess in the outside of the door, so that the handle may stand in a projected position for operation, and at the same time be withdrawn into a retracted position in whichit is substantially flush with the outer surface of the door.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of novel means in a lock of this character by which the handle at the outside of the door may be protracted and retracted.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a door lock having an operating handle at the outside of the door which may stand in a projected position or which may be retracted into a recess or well so as to stand flush with the outside of the door, and to provide novel means for retracting the handle into the 'recess and securing it in retracted position.

I Other objects and advantages of the present construction will appear as the description proceeds.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

" Fig. 1 is a fragmentary outside view of an airplane door equipped with a lock embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a front inside view of the lock case and associated parts;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3--3 of Fig. 2:

' Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the operating member or handle in a projected position;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line l''l of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is an exploded view of the spindles upon which the door handles are mounted;

V, Fig. 9 is an outside elevational View of a lock of modified form;

Fig. 10 is an inside elevational View of the modified lock shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view on line iiH of Fig. 10; a

Fig. 12 is a sectional view on line l2-l2 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view on line l3-l3 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 1 4. is a sectional view on line Hi -i4 of Fig. 12; and

the outside handle in a retracted position.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a portion of an airplane body 10 equipped with a door H connected by inside hinges l2 to a second door 13. While in this instance a pair of doors H and I3 are illustrated, the two doors being hinged together at I2, it will be understood that the invention is also applicable to a single door, in which case the door would be secured by hinges I2 to the body of the airplane itself.

Secured to the door is a lock casing M having an outside face [5 and an inside face IS. The outside face at its upper portion is extended laterally at both side edges, as shown at H, and this extended portion is provided with a recess l8, which, as shown in Fig. 3, will occupy a countersunk position in the door so that the plane of the outer face l5 will stand substantially flush with the door, as shown, for example, in

Fig. 5. An ear i9 may be provided at the lower portion of the outer face 55 of the casing, and the casing may be secured in place by a fastening member 2! passed through an opening 20 in this ear, and by fastening members 22 (Fig. 3) passed through the bottom of the recess l8.

Rotatably mounted upon the inner face of the lock case is an operating plate 23 provided with arcuate slots 24 through which pass pins 25 secured to the part Id of the lock case so that the rotation of the member 23 will be limited in.

scope. Upon the pins 25 are mounted washers 26 held in place by cotter pins 21, these washers being at the outside of the plate 23 so as to secure it to the case. Pivotally secured to this plate are a plurality of rods 28 (Fig. 1), which rods extend outwardly to bolts 29 adapted to cooperate with keeper openings or recesses in the body H] of the airplane and in the companion door l3 to secure the door I l in closed position. It will be understood that rotation of the plate 23 in one direction will withdraw these bolts from their keeper openings and permit the opening of the doors, while rotation of the plate 23 in the opposite direction will protract these bolts into the keeper openings.

Also secured to the plate 23 is an operating handle 30, which, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, will stand at the inside of the door so that it may be grasped and the plate rotated by a person at the inside of the plane. Likewise secured to the plate 23 is a spindle 3| rotatably mounted in a bearing 32 on the inside plate it of the lock case. This spindle may be secured to the plate by having its ends split, as shown at 33, which ends are bent over the plate 23 and secured thereto by rivets M. The spindle 3! is also provided with a radially projecting pin 35, for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

Rotatably mounted in the recess !8 of the lock case at the outside of the door is a sleeve 31 to the outer end of which is secured the outside operating handle 38. This handle is provided with a short stem 39 extending within the sleeve member 3! and secured thereto by the pin 49. As appears from Figs. 3, 5 and '7, the inner end of the sleeve telescopically receives the spindle 3|, the pin 35 being received in a slot in the Wall of the sleeve, which slot, as shown in Fig. 8, comprises a relatively narrow portion M and a wider portion 42.

It will be understood that the sleeve 3? of the outer handle may be moved axially along the spindle 3!, thus withdrawing the handle into the recess IS in the position shown, for example, in Figs. 3 and 5, or projecting the handle from the recess into a position in which it may be readily grasped and turned, as shown in Fig. '7.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, when the outside handle is in its retracted position, the pin 35 will lie in the enlarged portion 42 of the slot in the spindle 31, so that, while the outside handle is not permitted any rotating or oscillating move-- ment due to its close fit in the recess IS, the inside handle may still enjoy a limited rotation, as determined by the length of the slots 24, to actuate the bolt-operating rods 28, so that the door may be opened by the inside handle t6 regardless of the position of the outside handle 38. However, when the outside handle is in its projected position, as hown in Figs. 6 and 7, the pin 35 lies in the narrow portion l! of the slot in the sleeve 37, whereby, if the outside handle 33 is rotated the inside handle and plate 23 will likewise be rotated to actuate the bolt-operating rods 23. In other words, in the position shown in Fig. '7 the two handles are connected for rotation together, while in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, limited independent rotation of the inside handle is possible.

I have also provided means, which will now be described, to retract and project the outside handle, as well as to lock this handle in its retracted position. To this end the sleeve 31 is provided with spaced lugs 44 between which rests a pin 45 on one arm 45 of a bell crank lever pivoted at 37 to a stud 48 formed on the face of the lock case.

The other arm 49 of this bell crank lever is provided with an elongated slot 55 receiving a pin 5| mounted on the upper portion of a slide 52, which slide is movably mounted against a side wall of the case and is provided with spaced talons 53 at its rear end adapted to receive between them the rollback 54 of the key barrel 55 of the lock 55, which look, as shown in Fig. 7, is mounted in an opening 51 in the outer face 15 of the lock case, so as to be accessible to the use of a key at the outside face of the door.

The slide 52 is recessed at its under side, as shown at 58, so as to clear a stop 59 on the lock case, with which stop cooperates a tumbler 60. As shown more especially in Figs. 5 and '7, the tumbler 6D is provided with a U-shaped part at its rear end, the bight portion 6| of which extends between the talons 53, and the legs 62 of which extend forwardly and are pivoted to the slide by the pin 63. Thus it will be apparent that the rollback 54, when entering the space between the talons 53, will act upon the tumbler portion 6| to depress it and raise the opposite end of the tumbler to clear the stop 59. The rear end or bight portion [ii of the tumbler is normally held in elevated position by a spring 64, one end of which is inserted in a slot in the tumbler and the other end of which lies below the part 65 of the slide which carries the pin 5!.

The tumbler 60 is provided with a finger piece 6"! projecting from the lock case through an r opening 68 in the side wall thereof so that it may be operated from the inside of the door. By pressing upwardly on this finger piece, as shown in Fig. 4, the tumbler 60 will first be moved out of engagement with the stop 59, and thereafter the slide will be moved upwardly to swing the 'bell crank lever and move the sleeve 31 and out- 38 is retracted into the recess l8.

side operating handle 38.

In the operation of the device it will be seen from Fig. 3 of the drawings that when the door is closed normally the outside operating handle In this position the doors may be opened from the inside by the handle 35, but the outside handle 38 may not be turned. When the inside handle is turned the spindle 3! may move independently of the sleeve 37 by virtue of the pin 35 having freedom either case the tumbler 60 will first be moved to clear the stop 59, and thereafter the slide 52 will be moved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 6, thus moving the bell crank lever 46, 49 to protract the sleeve 31 and with it the outside handle 38. The latter may now be grasped and rotated to turn the plate 23 by virtue of the inner spindle 3| and the pin 35, which at this time lies in the narrow slot 4|. Likewise the outer handle 38 ma be retracted into the recess 8 by a reverse movement of the finger piece 51 or the key-operated lock 56.

In Figs. 9 to 15 of the drawings I have shown a somewhat modified form of my invention, wherein the outside handle is operated by a keyoperated look both at the outside and inside of In this instance the face 14 of the case at the outside of the door is provided with a wellor recess 15 into which may be retracted the outside handle It, which, asshown in Fig. 12, is secured to a sleeve Ti having a square opening fitting" over a square shaft i8 secured to the plate ll, so that the inner and outer handles are non-rotatably connected at all times.

The sleeve 11 is provided with spaced lugs i! between which fits the end of a bell crank lever 80 pivoted at 8| to an arm 82 secured to the case,

the other end of this bell crank lever being provided with a slot 83 to receive a pin 84 carried. by an upstanding member 85 on a slide 86 movably mounted within the ease, this slide having spaced talons 81 to receive either of the rollbaoks 88 or 89 carried by the key barrels of the locks 951' and SI mounted at the inside and outside of the case, respectively. A tumbler 92 is pivoted to the.

independently of each other, and it is therefore necessary to protect the outside handle, as shown in Fig. 11, before the door may be opened or closed, that is, before the plate H and operating rods 12 may be'moved by either handle. The outside handle 16 may be moved. from either the inside or the outside of the door by operation of the locks st or 9| by appropriate keys, the roll.- backs of these locks first moving the tumblerv 92, andthereafter moving the slide 86 to swing the bell crank lever Bil and thus move the sleeve T1 of the outside handle in the appropriate direc v tion. l

The tumbler 92 is provided with a downwardly turned end 95, which cooperates with a stop lug,

95 on the lock case, so that the slide will be 14 and 15, into which it maybe moved. That is, when moved to either of these positions it is prevented from being returned to the original position until the tumbler 92 has been thrown by the rollback of one of the locks. It may be noted that, while as shown in Fig. 4 the outside handle is held in retracted position by engagement of the end of the tumbler against the stop, this handle when protracted as shown in '6 may be freely pushed inwardly by pressure on. the handle itself, thus allowing the two doors to fold together.

While I have shown and described some preferred embodiments of my invention,-it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

' 1. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing, means in said casing for efiecting axial movement of said handle, and means connecting said handle to said spindle to permit limited rotation therebetween when said handle'is in its inward position.

2. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing to protracted and retractedpositions, means in said casing for effecting axial movement of said handle, said means being key-operated from the outside of the door, and. means connecting said handle to said spindle whereby said handle and spindle are fixed against relative rotation when the handle is protracted but said spindle is permitted to rotate independently of said handle when the latter is retracted.

3. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried b the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing, means movably mount ed in'said casing and connected to the handle for positively efiecting axial movement of said handle, said means being key-operated from the outside of the door, a controlling tumbler for said means, and a finger piece projecting from the casing at the inside of the door for actuating said last-named means, said finger piece being connected to said tumbler.

4. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing, a slide mounted in the casing and operatively connected to said handle for effecting axial movement thereof, tumbler mechanism carried by the slide for controlling the position of the slide and means for operating said slide from the inside and outside of the door.

5. A door lock comprising'a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing, a slide mounted in the casing and operatively connected to said handle for effecting axial movement thereof, tumbler mechanism carried by the slide for controlling the position of the slide and means for operating said slide from the inside and outside of the door, said outside means being key-operated.

6. A door lock comprising a casing, boltoperating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising rotatable handles at the outside and inside of,

the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle, means in said casing for effecting axial.

movement of one of said handles with respect to the other, key-operated means at the outside of the door for actuating said last-named means,

and cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of one of said handles with respect to the other in one axial position of the other handle.

3. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising rotatable handles at the outside and inside of the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle whereby the outside handle may be retracted toward and protracted from the casing, means in said casing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, and cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted position.

9. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprisingrotatable handles at the outside and inside of the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle whereby the outside handle may be retracted toward and protracted from the casing, means in said casing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, and cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted position and preventing independent rotation of said handles when the outside handle is in protracted position.

10. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising rotatable handles at the outside and inside of the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle whereby the outside handle may be retracted toward and protracted from the casing, means in said casing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, and cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted position and preventing independent rotation of said handles when the outside handle is in protracted position, said cooperating means comprising a pin upon One of said handles and a longitudinally extending slot upon the other of said handles,

said slot having a narrow portion at one end and.

an enlarged portion at the other end,

11. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-opcrating means carried by said casing, means formeans in said casing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, and cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted position, said casing being provided with a recess in the outer face thereof, and said outside handle being retractable into said recess to lie substantially flush with the outer surface of the casing.

12. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising rotatable handles at the outside and inside of the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle whereby the outside handle may be re--: tracted toward and protracted from the casing, means in said casing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted posi-- tion, said casing being provided with a recess in the outer face thereof, and said outside handle being retractable into said recess to lie substantially flush with the outer surface of the casing,

said protracting and retracting means comprising a slide mounted in the casing, key-operated means at the outside of the door for operating said slide, and a finger piece at the inside of the door for operating said slide.

13. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by said casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising rotatable handles at the outside and inside of the door respectively, one of said handles having a spindle thereon and the other of said handles carrying a sleeve telescopically receiving said spindle whereby the outside handle may be retracted toward and protracted from the casing, means in saidcasing for protracting and retracting said outside handle, cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve permitting limited rotation of the inside handle with respect to said outside handle when the latter is in retracted position, said casing being provided with a. recess in the outer face thereof, and said outside handle being retractable into said recess to lie substan tiallyflush with the outer surface of the casing, said protracting and retracting means comprising a slide mounted'in the casing, a tumbler pivotally mounted on said slide, key-operated means at the outside of the casing for operating said slide, and a finger piece on said tumbler andprojecting from the casing at the inside of. the door for operating said slide.

14. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the inside of the door secured to said spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said outside handle being mounted for movement on said spindle in an axial direction relatively to the spindle toward and from the casing to protracted and retracted positions, means in said casing for effecting axial movement of said outside handle, a key-controlled element operable from the outside of the door for moving said means, a manually operable member projecting from the casing at the inside of the door for actuating said last-named means, and means normally holding said outside handle against axial movement from one position thereof.

15. A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing, means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the inside of the door secured to said spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said outside handle being mounted for movement on said spindle in an axial direction relatively to the spindle toward and from the casing to protracted and retracted positions, means in said casing for effecting axial movement of said outside handle, said means being key-operated from the outside of the door, a manually operable member projecting from the casing at the inside of the door for actuating said last-named means, and means normally holding said outside handle against axial movement from one position thereof, said outside handle being freely movable in an axial direction by pressure thereon when in the other position.

16. .A door lock comprising a casing, bolt-operating means carried by the casing,"means for actuating said bolt-operating means comprising a rotatable spindle, a handle at the outside of the door for rotating said spindle, said handle being mounted for movement in an axial direction toward and from the casing to protracted 'and retracted positions, means movably mounted in said casing for positively effecting axial movement of said handle, a key-controlled element operable at the outside of the door for moving said means, a manually operable member projecting from the casing at the inside of the door for actuating said last-named means, and means normally preventing axial movement of said hancile from either position.

SAMUEL OXHANDLER. 

